


The Weird and Freaky

by changkyuwu



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-05 03:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19039873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changkyuwu/pseuds/changkyuwu
Summary: You meet someone who knows there's more to the world than just boring old humans. When you get yourself involved in a murder mystery, you realise there's more to you as well.





	1. Chapter 1

"Well, that's annoying," you poked at the dead body on the ground with your foot. "Don't suppose you could tell me who killed you?"

The body said nothing.

"Great," you sighed. “That means even more work…”

“Drop the gun!”

You spun around to face a boy with a weapon similar to your own pointed at you. He had a badge on his shirt, one that you recognised as being the logo for the police force, but you'd never met this officer.

"Who the hell are you?" You asked.

"I said drop the gun," he kept his weapon trained on you.

You glanced between the body at your feet and the boy behind you.

“Fuck.”

You dropped your gun and kicked it to the side before getting on your knees. The young officer quickly came up behind you and cuffed you. Then he dragged you up by your shirt and started leading you away.

“They’re hiring them younger and younger, huh?” You tried to steal a glance at the boy behind you but he forced you to keep your eyes front.

“I guess the same goes for murderers,” he responded.

You only rolled your eyes. “That guy deserved it.”

“Still murder,” he muttered.

“I’m not the one who killed him,” you responded. “But I do wish I was.”

“You’re really not helping your case here,” he said. “I’d suggest you wait until you get a lawyer, but if you’d like to implement yourself…”

“I don't think I can implement myself more than I already have,” you said. “Standing over a dead body that was killed via gunshot whilst holding a gun is pretty ironclad evidence, but ballistic’s will prove I’m innocent.”

“Then why were you there?”

“It’s a secret.”

The officer sighed, but kept leading you towards the police precinct. It was a small town you were in, so it didn’t take long to get from the muddy shack to the station. Before the apocalypse, it had just been a normal house. Today, it was the most wellkept place in the town.

You’d been by tons of times, you knew all of the staff there by name. You had no idea who this new guy was though. He seemed about your age so you assumed he was new to the job, but everyone in this town knew everyone, and you didn’t know him.

“Hi Jaehyun,” you couldn’t wave at the boy behind the desk so you blew him a kiss instead.

“What are you doing back here?” He asked.

“Oh, apparently I’ve killed someone,” you answered. “Nothing new, right?”

Jaehyun only shook his head. “Renjun, take them to the back cells. I’ll call Taeyong.”

“What, is this a V.I.P murderer?” Renjun asked.

“I’m friends with your boss,” you answered. “Oh, and Jaehyun, tell Taeyong that I lost my house key again.”

“Got it.”

Renjun began leading you towards the back of the building, to where the more comfortable cells were. You could tell he was curious about your relationship with the people he worked with, but he didn’t ask.

“Taeyong is basically my adopted brother,” you told him. “My parents raised us together. Till they were murdered by a demon, that is.”

“Oh, I know who you are now,” Renjun said. “You’re the crazy one everyone’s been telling me not to talk to.”

“Yep, that’s me,” you nodded. “Hunter of the weird and freaky, and somehow the only person in this town who even knows about the weird and freaky.”

“Have you ever considered that you might be the only thing weird and freaky in this town?” Renjun opened the cell door and locked it behind you once you walked in.

“I’ll choose to take that as a compliment,” you flashed him a toothy smile, but he just shook his head.

“Taeyong should be here soon, just stay here until then.”

“Can’t really go anywhere else,” you shook the cell door. “See you later, pretty boy.”

Renjun left you alone with nothing to do but play with the paint peeling off the walls. This place was always painfully boring and you’d suggested ways to brighten it up, but Taeyong had shot down all of your ideas. Apparently having a monkey hanging around went against workplace safety laws.

Stupid laws.

It took nearly half an hour, but Taeyong eventually showed up with his arms folded and his stern dad face on. “What have you done now?”

“I killed a vampire,” you answered. “Well, pretty boy thinks I did, at least.”

“Right,” Taeyong muttered. “A vampire. Sure.”

“Have I not told you about those guys yet?” You asked. “Even worse than the werewolves, I think.”

“Y/n, if you actually hurt anyone, then I’ll have to lock you up,” Taeyong said. “Can you stop with the supernatural hunter thing?”

“I’ve already hurt people out in the wasteland, Taeyong,” you responded. “I didn’t kill this one though.”

“So what happened?”

“I set up a meeting with him so I could ask a couple of questions,” you answered. “He was dead when I got there, bullet to the head. Check my gun, the clip is full and I doubt the bullets match the one he was killed with.”

“Already got people on it,” Taeyong said. “And I don’t suppose you’ll stay home while we sort this out?”

“I have vampires to hunt, Taeyong,” you responded. “And possibly a vampire murderer… Can I go now?”

“I’m holding you here until you’re confirmed to be innocent,” Taeyong said. “Then you can go. But if I see you anywhere near this investigation, you’ll go right back in the cells until it's over.”

“You’re a horrible godparent,” you stuck your tongue out at him.

“And you’re a horrible kid,” he responded. “You don't see me complaining… often.”

“Go prove me innocent already,” you motioned for him to hurry up and leave. “This place is so stuffy.”

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

-

The moment Taeyong had left home after dropping you off, you went to snoop on the crime scene. You know, the exact thing he told you  _ not  _ to do.

A vampire had been killed, how could you not get involved? And you were the only person in this town who knew about the supernatural, so you had to get in on this case somehow. These people didn’t know anything about vampires, they would all be useless.

So you were sat across the street, watching the police force with their investigation. At least until you felt someone sitting down beside you.

"Taeyong said to arrest you if I saw you," Renjun said.

"Then why aren't you arresting me?" You asked.

“Because I needed to talk to you in private,” he answered. “About the supernatural.”

“If you’re referring me to a shrink, Taeyong’s already tried, like, twelve,” you said.

“No, I believe you.”

“... Say what.”

“I transferred here from the city,” Renjun said. “And there were weirder things over there than vampires and demons and whatever.”

“Oh, if you think that’s bad then you should see what's out in the wastelands,” you said. “Got in a fist fight with a mermaid. She couldn’t reach me from the pond but I still have scars on my ankles from her claws.”

Renjun actually laughed. And not out of pure bewilderment like most people. He found the story funny…

“What are the wastelands like?” Renjun asked. “The bus from the city stopped briefly, but I didn’t get to look around…”

“It’s chaotic in a good way,” you answered. “Lots of people. Lots of  _ supernatural  _ people. I learnt a lot. The biggest lesson I learnt though was don’t leave for six months without saying anything to Taeyong or he’ll literally end my life.”

“Well… why did you leave?”

“That was my first hunt, to find that demon that killed my parents,” you told him. “It took six months but it was well worth it. Even if everyone thinks I’m crazy now.”

You never thought you’d actually be able to talk to someone who believed you about the supernatural, but… there you were. Renjun was a potential ally. A friend who didn’t think the wastelands turned you into a maniac.

Renjun might be the only person in town that you could talk to.

“So… are you gonna tell me what’s come up in the case?” You asked.

“From the point of view of a normal policeman, it’s pretty simple. Someone shot this guy, and we don’t know who,” Renjun shrugged. “From the point of view of someone in the know though… he was killed with a silver bullet that had a cross carved into it, which is a bit over the top really.”

“Someone who knew he was a vampire, but doesn’t know much about vampires,” you nodded. “So it really might be another person hunting the supernatural.”

“Yes, but the really interesting part is in the other injuries he sustained,” Renjun continued. “Burn marks on his arm in the shape of a handprint. I assume phoenix, but there are other possibilities we should consider.”

“If only I could see the body…” you muttered. “I could figure out who and what did it.”

Renjun thought for a moment before looking up at you with a glint in his eyes. “I have an idea.”

“Hit me.”

And that’s how you ended up wearing a giant ass coat, looking like a grave robber in a morgue. Renjun had told people that you were here to perform the autopsy and none of them could see your face, so they just went with it.

“God, these guys really suck at their job,” you took off the coat once you made it into the room full of dead bodies. “I’d have thought  _ someone _ might be even the slightest bit suspicious.”

“I don’t think they really care whether you’re a real doctor or not,” Renjun answered. “Just take a quick look at the body before the actual autopsy guy gets here.”

Renjun pulled out one of the drawers in the wall, revealing the very dead guy you’d been standing beside earlier. The first thing you looked at was the burn mark, almost certainly made by someone with some sort of affinity for fire. The second thing was the much more subtle bite mark on his neck.

“I wonder who turned him,” you said. “Could have been recent. He only came into town a couple of weeks ago, maybe vampirism was the reason.”

“He could have been on the run,” Renjun suggested.

“From the guy who killed him,” you nodded. “Was there anything on him?”

“All of his possessions are in evidence lockup,” Renjun said. “But he did have this card on him, it was just this logo of a circle, half was white, other half was black.”

“He was an assassin,” you didn’t expect that from the dickhead vampire that had moved into town only three days ago and immediately started throwing money around like he was hot shit. “He must have been here to kill someone, and his killer stopped him.”

“How do you know he’s an assassin?”

“That card is a sort of ID,” you answered. “I met some of the other assassins who worked for these guys out in the wastelands. Did some work for them myself.”

“So now we just need to figure out who he was after, maybe that can lead us to the killer,” Renjun said.

“Go back to the crime scene, see if you can’t find some sort of note saying who he was after.”

“Wouldn’t any good assassin hide all the evidence?” Renjun asked.

“This guy got killed by someone who barely knows anything about vampires,” you responded. “He’s not a good assassin.”

Renjun chuckled. “I’ll see what I can find.”

You were just about to leave when you heard voices approaching the door. And you easily recognised one of those voices at Taeyong.

“Fuck. He can’t see me here,” you whispered. “I’m dead.”

Renjun glanced at the many drawers that the dead people go in. “Get in.”

“Fuck no,” you didn’t feel like spending hours sitting in a cold drawer made for dead bodies.

“It’s either that or Taeyong puts you back in those cells until the investigation is over,” Renjun pulled an empty drawer out and after little deliberation, you decided to just get in, ignoring the fact that a naked dead guy has probably laid right where you are..

“How will I get out?” You barely had time to ask before Renjun had pushed the thing closed.

“I’ll be back in an hour or two,” he answered. “Just hang tight.”

“And hour or two?!”

“Shh!”

_ This is gonna fucking suck. _

You heard the door open and close as Renjun left, and not long after, it opened again for two more people. You recognised one of them as Taeyong, and assumed the woman speaking had to be the doctor.

“The guy at the desk said someone was already here, didn’t he?”

No matter how much willpower you put into projecting the thought of ‘shut the hell up!’ into the woman’s head, it obviously didn’t work.

“Did he know?” You heard Taeyong ask.

You heard a few of the morgue drawers being opened before Taeyong found your one. Once your eyes had adjusted to the return of light, you saw a very displeased Taeyong.

“Hi!” You waved at him and tried to put on your most innocent smile.

It didn’t work.

Taeyong grabbed your arm and dragged you out of the room, passing Renjun who gave you an apologetic look as you walked by. He led you out of the building and all the way to his car before even speaking to you.

“What did I say about not interfering?”

“... To definitely do that?”

“Stay out of this, Y/n! You’re not a police officer and you could get yourself in serious danger!” Taeyong put on his firm dad voice. “Why can’t you just listen to me?”

“Well, you never listen to me, why should I listen to you?” You shot back.

“I don’t listen to you because you only ever talk about werewolves, and fairies, and whatever other nonsensical things you can think up!”

“And you only ever talk about staying safe, being a good kid, don't go out at night, don’t talk to the neighbours because you think they do drugs-”

“They do.”

“Not the point!” You raising your voice didn’t happen often, and it was able to stun Taeyong into silence. “Rules, rules, and more rules. Fuck your rules. I’m basically an adult, I can do whatever I want, and you can’t stop me.”

“Yes, I can, actually,” Taeyong started up the car. “I’m able to hold you in a cell for as long as you’re a person of interest, which will conveniently be until the case is over.”

“That’s abuse of power,” you glared at him as he began driving.

“Yep.”

You scoffed and stared out the window on the passenger side. “I hate you.”

“Don't care.”

“Yes, you do,” you responded. “I  _ hate _ you.”

“I don’t care.”

-

You found yourself in the familiar cells for the second time that day. Taeyong had at least given you markers to draw on the walls with, but most of what you drew were crude pictures of certain body parts that he’d have to wash off later. Anything you could do to inconvenience him.

It wasn’t often that you found yourself genuinely mad at Taeyong, but there was only so many times you could take him trying to find a polite way to call you crazy.

Eventually you got bored of drawing so you tried to think about the case. Who could the assassin possibly be after in this town? There was no one notable here, at least not that knew of.

Maybe he was just there to gather info on the target. It was possible there was a family member in town or something.

Or hey, maybe he was just on holiday.

All of these questions were to answer the big one, who killed  _ him _ ?

There had been no other recent arrivals in town so it had to be someone who already lived here. Or it could have even been Renjun. He knew about the supernatural, maybe this vampire was the reason he transferred here.

But the bullet itself was full of stereotypes Renjun knew weren’t true…

As if you’d managed to summon him just by thinking of him, Renjun appeared at your cell door to let you out.

“My hero,” you sent him a kiss as you walked out. “How did you get the keys?”

“As much as I’d like to be your hero, Taeyong just sent me to get you,” Renjun answered. “We’re transferring you.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Renjun shrugged. “Apparently we’re taking you into the city.”

“Taeyong is sending me into the city?” You asked. “Taeyong? The guy who refused to take his eyes off of me for a year after I came back from my six month holliday?”

“Yeah, it’s weird,” Renjun agreed. “I think there’s more to it.”

“Yeah, no shit,” you muttered. “I’m not leaving this town until I found out what.”

“I would agree, but I don’t want to be fired,” Renjun said. “So I’m taking you to the city.”

“Oh, come on!” You groaned. “Have we not formed a friendship yet?”

“I’ve known you for like six hours at most,” Renjun responded. “Buy me coffee and then maybe I’ll consider being your friend.”

“Harsh,” you pressed your hand to your heart. “Your betrayal hurts me.”

Renjun only rolled his eyes and started leading you outside of the precinct, to where Taeyong was already waiting by his car. He passed you a bag that he’d already packed of your stuff as you got into the backseat but you didn’t even bother looking at him.

“I was hoping you’d get someone a little less…  _ you  _ to take me,” you muttered as Renjun settled into the seat next to you.

“I’m just dropping you off and then you won’t see me for another week or so,” Taeyong hopped in the front seat and started up the car. “That way you’re not in the way of the case, and you’re not locked up in a cell for days.”

“Oh, what a caring big brother,” you said. “Not locking me in a cell for days, so kind of you. I’m truly taken aback by your thoughtful nature.”

“Can you guys not fight while I’m in the car?” Renjun spoke up. “Feels kinda awkward.”

“Can I talk to you and occasionally make snide side comments at Taeyong?” You asked.

“Yeah, I don’t mind that,” Renjun shrugged.

“I do.”

“Shut up, Taeyong.”

So you tried to forget that Taeyong existed for the hour long drive and just talk to Renjun. You couldn’t talk about anything supernatural since Renjun refused to acknowledge the existence of the strange and unnatural with his boss in the car. But Renjun ended up telling you about life in the city.

He actually managed to get you excited to visit the place.

“Have you really never been?” Renjun asked.

“I went once when I was little,” you answered. “We mainly stayed in a hotel and mum never let me leave the room because I got lost a lot.”

“And you actually listened to her?”

You scoffed. “No. I left the moment she turned around and Taeyong found me eating stolen cheetos, sitting in a bird’s nest on a giant tree. So entertaining watching him try to climb that.”

“If you like climbing trees, we should go see the ones at the gardens,” Renjun said. “Most of them are taller than houses.”

“Aw, sick,” you were already imagining them. “We can race to the top.”

“No, I’ll fall and die.”

“Don’t be a bitch-”

“Language,” Taeyong interrupted from the front seat.

“Fuck off, I’m in the middle of a conversation,” you glared at him for a moment before turning back to Renjun. “Anyways, I can get you a harness if you want.”

“Still not fond of climbing a giant tree that would crack my skull open if I fell off,” Renjun said.

“The danger is the fun part though,” you continued. “Like, in the wastelands, there was the lake, and it was super pretty, but when you went inside, the sprites would create whirlpools to make you leave.”

“What's that have to do with climbing trees?”

“The whirlpools were the fun part!” You answered. “There was a whole colony of shapeshifters who lived by that pond, and the parents all told the kids not to go in, but they did anyway because the whirlpools made them spin. The added level of danger gave us a challenge too.”

“You swam in whirlpools for fun?” Renjun asked.

“There wasn’t much else to do out there,” you shrugged. “But I loved staying with the shapeshifters, they slept in piles of wolves and the pups liked to curl up next to me. I should go visit them one day.”

“Would you take me?” Renjun seemed excited at the prospect.

“How could I say no?” You responded. “I’ll take you on a whole tour of the wastelands.”

“ _ Renjun _ ,” Taeyong’s voice caused the wonder in Renjun’s eyes to disappear. “You don’t believe it, right?”

“Um, no, of course not,” Renjun said. “I’m just… making conversation.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’ll introduce you to the lone siren in the cave too, he makes the best chicken soup you’ll ever taste.”

Renjun nodded, but he was holding his enthusiasm back because of Taeyong. Curse that killjoy skeptic.

The car ride became silent until you caught sight of someone in the distance. They were coming your way but it wasn’t until you got closer that you realised they were specifically approaching your car. The guy probably just wanted a ride, but Taeyong didn’t feel the need to stop.

You sped past him, but a second later, the car lurched forward as it stopped moving. The tires didn’t though, they were trying desperately to move the car forward, but all they did was create a cloud of smoke behind you.

“Fuck,” Taeyong muttered.

“ _Language_ ,” you mocked. “What’s your stupid car doing now? Or did you accidentally put it in park?”

“No, it's-”

You didn’t get to hear his answer because the windscreen behind you was shattered and someone pulled you out of the car by your shirt. Your immediate reaction was to scream because  _ what the fuck _ ,  _ what the fuck, what the fuck _ .

The smoke that the car had generated got in your eyes and blocked you from seeing what was happening but you tried to reach up to the freak dragging you away and at least leave a scratch or something. It’s like he didn’t notice your struggle at all though, he just kept dragging you along.

Once you were out of the smoke, you were able to see that the guy was big, and carrying a  _ shotgun _ . You saw Renjun fire two bullets at him, both of which hit, but he just kept moving.

Three more - still nothing.

“Let them go!” It wasn’t until a mass of flames hit the giant that he finally released you and you immediately ran back over to Renjun.

“What the fuck is that?!” You could only watch as the giant fought Taeyong, who was… on fire.

“I have no clue,” was all Renjun could say.

You glanced between Renjun and the fight once again, before jumping back into the fray. Maybe Taeyong was a fucking dickhead, but he wasn’t going to be shot to death with a shotgun. Not if you could help it at least.

You heard a few more bullets hit the giant, and with Taeyong’s weird fire thing, it was actually starting to slow him down. It gave you the opportunity to snatch the shotgun from his hand and press it against his stomach. You fired without thinking and the kickback send you flying backwards.

There was a loud thump as the giant fell, and soon enough Taeyong and Renjun were hovering over you.

“Are you okay?” Renjun asked. “He dragged you out the damn window.”

“I’ve seen some shit, but I haven’t fought a giant yet,” looking at the man now, you could see he had to be at least eight feet tall.

“You’re bleeding,” Taeyong said.

“Yeah, that happens when your dragged through a fucking  _ glass window _ ,” you said. “But at least I wasn’t on fire, right?”

Taeyong ignored the question to examine the scratch along the left side of your face. Renjun wasn’t having any of his silence though.

“You killed the vampire,” Renjun said. “The burn mark was made by a phoenix. You.”

Taeyong still didn’t say anything, he just grabbed a first aid kit from his car and came back to wash the blood off of your face. You pushed him away the moment he touched you though.

“You knew the entire time,” you said. “You knew about the supernatural. You  _ are _ the supernatural.”

“Hardly,” he tried again to press a wet cloth to your face but you caught his wrist.

“You knew the entire time and you still called me crazy.”

“I guess we’ll just gloss over the fact that he killed a guy,” Renjun muttered.

“We’ll get to the city, then you can ask your questions,” Taeyong pulled his hand away and stood to leave, but you didn’t budge.

“I’m not moving until you explain why the hell you lied to me for  _ years _ ,” you responded. “You said I was delusional.”

“They told me not to tell you.”

“Well ‘they’ can go fuck themselves,” you said. “And it’s not telling if I already know!”

“But you don’t know, you don’t know anything,” Taeyong told you. “ _ I _ barely know anything.”

“I’m gonna shoot your cryptic ass with this shotgun in a second,” you glared at him. “What about the vampire? You’re the one who killed him, right?”

“I had to,” Taeyong answered. “He was… he was here for you.”

“If Y/n has assassins after them, I feel like we should know what’s going on,” Renjun said. “That giant ignored a full clip of bullets!”

“He’s not a giant, he’s a draugr,” Taeyong said. “You’re such experts on the supernatural, you should know.”

“Don't get snappy with me, bitch,” you finally pulled yourself up off the ground. “I haven’t been lying to you for three years for no other reason than ‘they told me not to tell you.’ Who even  _ is _ they?”

“Your parents. The ones that you spent six months searching for the killer of,” Taeyong answered. “Do you remember that? When you disappeared without a word and I thought they killed you too?”

“I told you the killer wasn’t human and  _ you  _ told me I was delusional!” You shouted. “If I told you what I was doing then you really would have locked me up!”

“And it would have been for the better.”

You had known Taeyong since the day you were born. Your parents had taken him in when he was only four. He was trusted to take care of you.

Physically, perhaps he succeeded. But trying to convince you that you were insane for the past three years was definitely not ‘taking care of you.’ Sometimes, you thought that you really  _ were _ insane.

You only stared at Taeyong for a few more seconds before picking the shotgun up off the ground and grabbing your bag from the car. Then you started walking in whichever direction you felt.

“Y/n,” Taeyong called. “Can you please get in the car?”

“Suck my dick, Taeyong.”

You hadn’t expected Renjun to start walking beside you, but he did. He also had his bag on his back, apparently having the same plan as you.

“Guys,” you could tell Taeyong was on the verge of tears just from his voice, but you ignored him. “ _ Please _ .”

You kept walking. Eventually, you heard Taeyong get in his car and leave, but you still didn’t say anything. You just continued moving through the dreary landscape.

“You’re usually more talkative,” Renjun actually seemed worried. “I guess if my brother lied to me, I wouldn’t be very happy either.”

“It doesn’t matter,” you shook your head, and changed the subject. “I thought you didn’t want to get fired.”

“I think there might be more adventure to be had with you,” Renjun responded.

“And to think you thought I was a murderer just this morning,” you nudged him playfully. “Changed your opinion?”

“I  _ guess _ I was wrong about you,” he answered. “Besides, someone's going to need to help you with all of these assassins.”

“Aw, you must be my hero after all,” you tried to laugh but it came out forced. “I guess I really can introduce you to the shapeshifters and the water sprites now.”

Renjun gave you a small smile. “I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Boo!”

Renjun jumped a whole two feet in the air when you grabbed his shoulder and shouted as loud as you could right in his ear. When he turned around with a hand over his heart, he seemed to be glaring right into your soul.

“Don’t do that!” He yelled. “Do you want me to die of a heart attack?!”

You were too busy laughing hysterically to respond. Only snippets of words made it out between your uncontrollable giggling.

“That was too good,” you spoke once you finally got the composure to do so. “You jumped, like, twice your height, and your face was so shocked! Amazing!”

Despite the fact that you were making fun of him, he gave you a small smile as he conceded that just  _ maybe _ it was a little funny.

“Right, what do you want?” Renjun asked.

“The kids want us to play whirlpool again,” you answered. “They’re all waiting by the pond.”

“Do they never tire?” Renjun sighed.

“Would you like me to make up a lie for you?” You offered.

“No, of course not,” Renjun shook his head. “That game is addicting.”

“You pretend to be annoyed, and yet…”

It had taken you two weeks to find the shapeshifter colony near the edge of the forest, but it had been well worth the trip. The moment you arrived, the kids swarmed you and your new friend. It had only been seconds before they were dragging you over to the pond.

To this day, it was still their favourite activity. Some of the kids were much bigger now, but their enthusiasm and joy hadn’t faded.

“Guys, I got Renjun!” They all cheered as you dragged him after you.

He was trying his best not to smile but it shone through anyway. Renjun would never admit it, but he loved this place as much as you did, maybe even more.

The moment you entered the pond, the whirlpools appeared, and caught you. You were close enough to Renjun that you were caught in the same one and it swirled the two of you around as you talked casually.

“Where should we go after this?” You asked. “We could go further into the forest, or we could go meet those fairies I was telling you about!”

“Maybe we should map this all out so we actually know what we’re doing,” you blew Renjun’s suggestion away immediately.

“Planning lessens the excitement! We’ll just go wherever and see what happens,” you said. “That’s what I did last time, and it was the best six months of my life.”

Renjun wasn’t used to your spontaneous lifestyle just yet, but he’d have to grow accustomed to it if he really was going to be staying with you as you explored the wastelands again. You’d managed to get him to let loose a little, but he still had the police officer attitude you equated to everyone else that worked at that place.

“What about the city?” You suggested. “We never actually made it there, I’d like to see those trees. And you said there were supernaturals over there too, right?”

“Yeah, but they’re a bit more subtle than out here,” Renjun answered. “They didn’t… play in magical whirlpools.”

“Which we should probably try to escape now,” you’d grown so accustomed to them that you almost didn’t notice when they were started to drag you deeper underwater.

It was easy to escape them with the other kids around though. All you had to do was hold out a hand and someone would take it and pull. The moment you escaped, you entered into another mini whirlpool, but that was part of the game.

After you’d been pulled from your old one, you took Renjuns hand and dragged him to the new, weaker one. He wasn’t as used to them as everyone else, but he was learning how to swim in the magical pond quickly.

“We could also go up the mountain,” you looked to the giant rock in the distance. “There’s a seer up there, he’ll answer any question you ask, but only one.”

“Have you been up there before?” Renjun asked.

“Nah, I got half an hour into the trek and came back down,” you laughed. “It was fucking freezing. Maybe with some more layers, we’d actually be able to complete the journey.”

“Sounds like it would be fun,” Renjun gazed at the distant mountain, seemingly fond of the idea.

“So we’ll go up the mountain next,” you decided. “What do you think you’ll ask the seer?”

“Well…” Renjun thought for a moment. “I’d like to know where to find someone. I had a friend in the city that went missing a long time ago.”

“That’s perfect! We can ask the seer and then go find him and bring him on the adventure!” You had to wonder what his friend was like. Hopefully as sporadic and dreamy as you, then you’d get along just fine.

“What will  _ you  _ ask the seer?” Renjun asked.

“Hm…” There were a lot of questions you needed answered, but finding out from a seer took the mystery away. “Maybe I’ll ask him how to make the best macaroni and cheese in the world.”

“You always have your priorities straight,” Renjun chuckled.

“Y/n! Come into my whirlpool!” You felt a hand on your shoulder tugging at you to go.

“What about Renjun, I can’t leave him alone,” you responded. “Anyone want to steal him?”

“I got it!” Renjun yelped when a young girl grabbed his hand and yanked him out of his whirlpool.

Soon enough, you were pulled out of the whirlpool as well. Into the one of three little kids who were all trying to swim against the direction of it. You knew it wasn’t possible, but you decided to join in anyway, helping to push them along when it became particularly difficult.

You spent at least another hour in the pond. None of the kids would leave until the adults came to tell everyone that it was time for dinner. Then they all left the pond and ran towards the tents like a herd of hungry jackals.

You and Renjun didn’t have the same relentless energy as the kiddo’s, so you lagged behind, but the cooks still made sure you got some of the food. Pieces of cloth were handed out to everyone to help dry off but all of the kids were more focused on the food.

Well… the kids  _ and  _ you.

“Not even gonna bother changing into something dry?” Renjun asked.

“ _ I’m nomming _ ,” your words were barely understandable between the spoonfuls of soup.

Renjun only shook his head. “At least dry your hair or you’ll catch hypothermia or something.”

“I’m nomming!”

He quickly realised that you were too into your food to bother, so he moved over to sit behind you and dry your hair himself. “Are you even tasting the food when you eat it that fast?”

You didn’t answer because you were too busy slurping up what was left in the bowl. Once you were done, you let out a loud belch that made some of the more crude children giggle before turning around and grabbing the cloth from Renjun.

“I was hungry, okay?” You pulled his head down so you could towel off his own hair. “I’ve been running around all day, I gotta get some sustenance in me. And, by the way, are you planning on finished your dinner tonight?”

“You already know I’ll give you some,” Renjun responded. “I always do.”

“You’re the best!” You ran a hand through Renjun’s hair and, deeming it dry enough, passed the cloth off to one of the other kids.

“I already know.”

After dinner, everyone finally got into dry clothes and settled down into the tents. The shapeshifter colony was pretty big, but they only had four tents, so everyone slept in a giant dog pile in the centre.

On the first night, Renjun had tried to stay more towards the edges of the tent, where the rain seeped in. On the second though, you had dragged him over to where everyone else was and held him as you slept so he couldn’t escape. He’d begrudgingly admitted the next morning that he slept better that night, but refused to accept that it was because he was beside everyone else.

Now, you and Renjun slept beside each other the ground with ten or so young children around you. Some shifted into various animals to go to sleep, while others stayed as humans and curled up with their friends.

Despite the cramped atmosphere and lack of bedding, it was a pretty comfortable place to sleep. At least, it had been for the first few days. Then you started having weird dreams of the mountain looming in the distance.

You couldn’t sleep for more than an hour before they woke you up. Sometimes you thought maybe the seer was calling out to you, but you’d prefer if he just sent a bird or something. Your sleep schedule was bad enough without prophetic dreams interrupting it.

Still, the bitch did so anyway.

Tonight it was so bad that you eventually untangled yourself from the mass of children around you and left the tent so sit by the pond. Undisturbed, it looked completely normal, if exceptionally beautiful.

The water sprites inside took good care of it.

“You know, if you’re trying not to wake anyone up when you leave, maybe try not stomping around like an elephant,” Renjun yawned as he sat next to you.

“I was being as quiet as I could,” you responded. “It's not my fault you have super senses or something.”

“I don't, I’m just always alert,” Renjun said. “There are assassin’s after you, remember?”

“Right, and you’re my heroic protector,” you nodded. “What do you think the next one will be? Another vampire or a… draugr, whatever that is.”

“I just hope they’ll be easy to deal with,” Renjun said. “I also hope they never find us.”

“I’m a pretty prolific person in the wastelands, someone will innocently mention me to someone else and that’ll keep happening till someone not so innocent finds out where I am,” you glanced up at the mountain, ever vigilant. “I’d like to know why they’re after me though.”

“Maybe that can be your question,” Renjun suggested.

Obviously there were important things going on around you. Maybe that’s why the seer was calling you…

“We should head up there tomorrow,” you said. “I’ve heard it’s not too difficult of a hike. It would only take maybe six hours.”

“If that’s the plan, then when should get some more sleep,” Renjun stood up and offered a hand to help you up. “Come on.”

Once you and Renjun made it back to the tent, you fell asleep almost immediately. This time, the seer sent no dreams to you. He must have known you were coming.

Either that, or you were so tired that he couldn’t even try to wake you up.

-

“He's been gone since yesterday, do you think he went into the forest?”

“I hope not, he’ll die out there!”

“If he spent the night out there…”

You woke up early in the morning to the sound of concerned parents. Something must have happened to one of the kids…

“Hey, Renjun, wake up,” you shook his shoulder. “Something’s going on.”

“What?” Renjun smoothed down his hair as he sat up. “Did someone fall down the hill again?”

“One of the kids is missing.”

The two of you left the tent to find a group of people trying to speak in hushed voices, but one woman in particular was on the verge of tears. Immediately, you and Renjun inserted yourselves into the conversation to find out what was going on.

“What happened?” You asked.

“Jisung is missing,” a woman answered you. “He never returned last night.”

“Wasn’t he talking about going into the forest?” Renjun asked. “He said he was looking for… peony flowers?”

“Yeah, the pink ones,” you nodded. “He must have went in there to find some.”

“We have to organise a search party,” someone said. “He can’t spend another night in there alone.”

“That will take a few hours at least to organise.”

“I’ll go,” you offered. “I’m good at hunting, I can find him.”

“And I was a detective,” Renjun added. “Between the both of us, we should be able to track him down.”

They looked hesitant for a moment, but the woman who looked as if she were about to burst into tears nodded immediately. “Please.”

“You don’t know what’s in the forest,” a man argued. “You’ll just end up disappearing too.”

“We have weapons,” you responded. “And combat training. We’ll be fine.”

“Take some food, take extra clothes, take whatever,” the woman said. “Just please bring my boy back.”

You nodded. “We will.”

Half an hour later, you were moving deeper into the forest, trying to find this idiotic child. You and Renjun each had bags strapped to your backs and weapons at the ready. The shotgun you had picked up was heavy, but you were fine with the extra weight so long as you didn’t have to face down a draugr with nothing but Renjun’s little pistol again.

“Which one was Jisung again?” Renjun asked.

“The one that tripped over a rock and broke his nose,” you answered. “Twice.”

“Right, I remember him now.”

“We just need to find pink peonies, and he shouldn’t be far from there,” you said. “I know where some are, I’ve been out here before.”

“You’ve been into the creepy forest we were told not to go into?” Renjun asked.

“I was tracking down a demon, the one that killed my parents,” you said. “This is the place I finally caught up with him.”

“You never really told me what happened,” Renjun said. “And we’ll have time to talk while we’re looking for these flowers…”

“Curious, are we?” You questioned. “All right, I’ll give you the story.”

“Really?”

“Why not? We have time,” you responded. “So when I was about fifteen, Taeyong went into the city to go through his police training. So it was just me and my parents, and it was  _ so _ boring without him around.”

“I thought Taeyong was the one who stopped you from doing anything fun,” Renjun said.

“After disaster struck, yeah,” you said. “But before my parents died, he would let me do whatever so long as he could keep an eye on things. My parents always yelled at him for it, but he still let me go out.”

“He  _ did _ care about you…” Renjun looked away when your eyes met his.

He was reluctant to approach the topic of Taeyong and what he had done, he thought it would hurt you. The concern he showed still managed to surprise you, even after you’d spent nearly three weeks together.

“I know,” you said. “That was never in question. I just… don't like him very much at the moment.”

“Anyways,” you shook the thought of Taeyong from your head. “With him gone, my parents were even more excessively overprotective. And then this new guy showed up in town, from the wastelands. My parents wouldn’t even let me leave the house after he arrived...”

“Was he the demon?” Renjun asked.

“Yeah. He showed up one night, demanding to see me. When my parents wouldn’t let him in, he let himself in,” you said. “And then… boom. First time I saw magic. He used it to blow up the living room. Left my parents bodies unrecognisable.”

“Oh…” Renjun’s eyes lingered on the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you sighed. “The hard part was after. No one believed that the guy was a demon, or that he did magic. Taeyong came back home, but even he didn't listen to me…”

You now knew he was just lying to you.

“So I left to go find him,” you said. “No one would listen… so I just did it myself.”

Renjun was silent for a moment. “It was brave of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“To hunt down the demon,” Renjun said. “You were so young, and you had no one… it was really brave of you.”

“Well, I  _ am _ a fearless hunter,” you tried to brighten up the mood. “Oh, and those flowers are just over there.”

Renjun followed your chain of sight to a bed of pink peony flowers. Jisung was nowhere in the immediate vicinity, but you could at least assume you were on the right track.

“Alright, let’s fan out, take a look around, and see what we can gather,” Renjun said. “Meet back here in ten.”

“Got it, boss,” you saluted. “Let’s go find the kid dumb enough to wander into a forest alone.”

There wasn’t much around, but you could tell Jisung had been by. You found some of the flowers cut off, just lying on the ground. Next to them was a bag holding only a little bit of food. That was all you’d found though.

You soon found out Renjun hadn’t had much luck either, only finding a jacket. There was nothing to give you any clue where Jisung had been.

“Um… hey,” the two of you shot around when you heard the voice of a boy.

Not Jisung, but someone equally non threatening.

“Are you looking for the boy that was here?” He asked.

“You know what happened to Jisung?” Renjun questioned.

“Yaga took him,” the boy answered. “He’s probably already gone.”

“No, he can’t be,” you shook your head. “Where did this person take him?”

“I’m not sure where she lives,” he said. “But I could ask.”

The boy crouched down and dug his hands into the dirt. You couldn’t hear what he whispered into the ground, but he stood up a second later and brushed his hands off.

“They won't tell me,” he sighed. “They believe her to be a threat to me.”

“Who is they?” Renjun asked.

“I don’t know, the forest, I guess,” the boy shrugged. “Perhaps a spirit who possesses it. I only know they protect me. But they showed me to you, so you mustn’t be threatening.”

The wind whipped past your ears and you thought for a second one of the branches of the trees was reaching out to the strange boy.

“They say to be cautious though…” his eyes lingered on the shotgun at your hip. “Who are you people?”

“I’m Y/n, this is Renjun,” you responded. “We’re staying with the shapeshifters at the edge of the forest.”

“I know of them, I’m told not to visit,” he said. “They say the kids are reckless, they think it will spread to me.”

“Overprotective family members too, huh?” You asked.

The boy smiled. “Something like that.”

“Your turn,” Renjun interrupted. “Who are you?”

“Jaemin is what they call me,” he said. “I can’t help you find your friend, but I can point you in the right direction.”

“And what direction is that?” You asked.

Jaemin turned and pointed to the mountain looming in the distance. “Go to him. He’ll tell you where to go next.”

“The seer?”

“They say he’s quite knowledgeable,” Jaemin said. “They also say he’s dangerous. Be careful, if you choose to go.”

“I’m always careful,” you said.

“You play in whirlpools,” Renjun shook his head. “Can ‘they’ offer us any other advice?”

“Only to move fast,” Jaemin answered. “They say Jisung is alive, but he doesn’t have long… Yaga is preparing.”

“Preparing for what?”

“They won’t say,” Jaemin said. “They say… I can’t hear the truth.”

“Right, you can't hear the truth, okay,” you sighed. “Hey, forest, just so you know, lying to your kids is the best way to get them to hate you.”

You jumped when a vine wound it’s way around your leg. It was only small, but you felt a vaguely threatening feeling washing over you.

“Let them go,” Jaemin’s words caused the vine to drop immediately.

You stumbled backwards, and nearly tripped over a random twig, but Renjun caught you. He put an arm around you to steady you. “How did you manage to piss off a forest?”

“I guess I just have that effect,” you mumbled.

“You two should go,” Jaemin said. “When the seer tells you where to find him, I’ll show you the way if I can.”

“Alright,” Renjun nodded. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

-

After explaining your plan to the shapeshifters, they readily sent you up the mountain with enough supplies to last the two day journey. Some of the kids had wanted to come with you, but after you mentioned how cold it would be, they backed out immediately.

Three hours into things though, you were starting to miss the entertainment they brought.

“Okay, I told you a story,” you eventually said. “Tell me about your friend.”

“My friend?” Renjun asked.

“The one that went missing,” you nodded. “There must be a story behind that, yeah?”

“Yeah, there is…”

“You don’t have to tell it if you don’t want to,” you said. “Just figured it would pass the time. We still have another three hours to go at least…”

“No, you’re right, you told me your story,” Renjun said. “So about a few months before I transferred to your town, I met this boy called Chenle. He was a complete idiot, but… quite entertaining. Like you. I guess I have a type.”

“I’ll choose to focus on the entertaining part rather than the idiot part.”

Renjun smiled. “You know I don't mean it as an insult.”

“You still called me an idiot,” you huffed.

“Okay, fine, I’m sorry,” Renjun said. “But you kind of are.”

“That’s not an apology!”

He laughed loud enough for the sound to echo around you and you couldn’t help but smile. You didn’t know how melodic one’s laugh could sound until you’d heard his.

“Just continue with your dumb story,” you crossed your arms as you continued your trek.

“Okay, well, he was kinda weird. Weirder than most people in town, at least,” Renjun said. “I eventually found out that that was because he’s supernatural.”

“Is he how you knew about it all?” You asked.

“Yep. Ever heard of a hu hsien?”

“No, what the fuck is a who shen?”

“ _ Hu hsien _ ,” Renjun corrected. “They’re foxes who can become humans. Chenle wasn’t very good at that part apparently because he still had a tail and fox ears.”

“Your friend was a fox boy and you never even noticed?” You couldn’t help but giggle.

“He wore a beanie!” Renjun tried to defend himself. “And why would I ever think ‘oh hey, maybe my best friend has secretly been a fox this entire time?’”

“Expect the unexpected, Renjun,” you said. “Maybe  _ I’ve  _ been a fox this entire time. Wouldn’t that be a plot twist?”

Renjun brushed his hand over the top of your head. “No ears. Not a fox.”

“Did you check for a tail?”

He snatched his hand away before you could move it lower and you burst into laughter. “How can you be sure if you don’t check?”

“I think I’d notice if you had a tail,” Renjun said.

“Why? Do you spend much time staring?”

Renjun froze and you watched on in amusement as his face slowly became redder and redder. Eventually he started walking again, much faster than before, and you almost had to run to catch up to him.

“Oh, is that a yes?” You teased. “Don’t worry, dear, I stare too.”

“Shut up,” he muttered. “Or I won’t tell you the rest of the story.”

“Aw, fine…” you pouted, but Renjun refused to look at you. “Continue your story then.”

“After I found out, he started introducing me to all the weird stuff,” Renjun said. “But one day, he came by my place and told me not to go searching. I didn’t find out what that meant until he disappeared.”

“Was someone after him?” You asked.

“That, or he just wanted to disappear,” Renjun shrugged. “Either way, any amount of searching I did turned up nothing. He must have skipped town.”

“The seer will know where he is,” you said. “We can ask him.”

“We only have two questions between the both of us,” Renjun shook his head. “One has to be about Jisung, shouldn’t the other be about the assassins?”

“Chenle could be in danger,” you argued.

“ _ Could _ be,” Renjun said. “But we  _ know _ that you’re in danger.”

“Well, we’ll decide when we get there, yeah?”

A few more hours into the journey, the snow set in and it was starting to get unbelievably cold. It almost made you want to turn back around, but you just wrapped a cloak around your shoulders and pushed on through.

You actually seriously considered turning back around when you heard what sounded like a bear. Except a lot more terrifying than one.

“What the fuck was that?” You moved closer to Renjun.

“I don’t know, but I know I don’t like it,” Renjun answered.

You kept moving, more cautiously now. Whatever was out there, you weren’t sure you wanted to find out.

“I think I see something…” Renjun muttered.

“What? Is it a bear?”

You looked around but you couldn’t see anything.

“No…” Renjun stopped and stared ahead into the snowy landscape.

You tried to look ahead and see what he was looking at it. Eventually, you caught sight of something that blended into the landscape barrelling towards you at unnatural speeds.

“I think it’s time to run!”

Renjun grabbed your hand and the two of you took off as fast as you could away from the creature following you. Walking in the snow was hard enough without having to run away from some giant polar bear or whatever the fuck. Not to mention it was much faster than you.

When it got close enough that you could hear it thumping through the snow, you really started to freak out.

“Is that the abominable fucking snowman?!” You shouted.

“It’s a yeti!”

You could hear it panting and the noise was only getting closer. You couldn’t outrun this thing…

“Fuck, okay,” you stopped running and grabbed the shotgun.

The metal was cold but you ignored the feeling and pointed it at the yeti. It was close enough that you could make out it's facial features and the only words you could use to describe it was ‘fucking terrifying.’

“What are you doing?” Renjun hissed.

“Shooting it!”

You fired the shotgun and kickback blew you back into Renjun, causing the both of you to fall into the snow. The roar that the yeti let out chilled you to the bone. Worse than the snow ever could.

But it was still coming.

“Fire it again! Fire it again!” Renjun hit your shoulder and you quickly pumped the shotgun before firing once more.

You were ready for it to kick back into your shoulder this time, and were able to withstand it. The yeti withstood the shot as well though.

“Why isn’t it dying?!” You fired again. It kept going.

Renjun pulled out his pistol and started shooting but it still didn’t stop. It was like it didn’t even care that it was being shot at.

The next time you tried to fire the shotgun, nothing happened. There were no bullets left.

“Need some help?” You and Renjun turned to see some rando casually headed towards you, like he didn’t even care that there was a yeti about to rip all of you limb from limb.

“Fucking duh!” You shouted at him.

“Jeez, no need to swear at me,” he knelt into the snow next to you. “Follow my lead.”

He took your hand and held it out to the fast approaching yeti. This mad man was just sitting there holding your hand as it got closer.

“Whatever you’re doing isn’t fucking working!” Renjun growled.

“Patience, little one,” the boy wagged a finger at him. “This doesn’t work if you’re not scared.”

“I’m fucking terrified!” You argued.

“Obviously not enough.”

You very quickly decided you don’t like this person.

It wasn’t until the yeti was close enough to reach out and touch that you felt wave pulse through your entire body. Your hand felt like it was burning as some sort of energy flowed through it and sent the yeti flying backwards. The weirdo then let go of your hand and stood up.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

You and Renjun glanced at each other and then looked at the boy.

“What the fuck.”

“Come with me,” the boy started walking away from you. “I’ve been waiting for a week now, were the messages not clear enough?”

“No!” You shouted. “Your cryptic ass dreams only made me tired!”

“It’s hard to project messages!” The boy tried to defend himself. “Just follow me. I assume you have questions, that's why everyone comes up here.”

You picked yourself up off the ground and started following him. Your heart was still beating out of your chest, but at least you were safe. For now.

“Is that the seer?” Renjun asked you.

“I guess so,” you muttered. “Jaemin said he was dangerous…”

“Well, he just killed a yeti, so-”

“Oh, Kay isn’t dead,” the boy interrupted. “She’s a lot tougher than that.”

“... You named the yeti?” You asked.

“She’s a friend,” he shrugged. “She just gets a little intimidated by newcomers. I’ll make sure she doesn’t harm you when you leave.”

You ended up following the weird mountain boy into a cave where he had a fire going. Immediately, you and Renjun sat by it and started to warm your freezing hands.

“Well, I guess I’ll introduce myself,” the boy said, taking a seat by the fire. “I’m Donghyuck, the ever powerful seer in the mountains. Ask your questions.”

Before you could even speak, Renjun asked his question. “Why are there assassins after Y/n?”

“Renjun!” You smacked his shoulder. “What about Chenle?”

“I have to prioritise, Y/n,” Renjun said. “I need to keep  _ you  _ safe at the moment.”

“You’re sure that’s your question?” Donghyuck asked.

Renjun nodded.

“Very well,” Donghyuck said. “It’s because Y/n is unnatural.”

“Unnatural?”

“You go against the flow of the world,” Donghyuck explained. “You’re not even meant to exist, but… here you are.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” You asked.

“Is that your question?” Donghyuck smiled coyly, refusing to answer you.

“No,” you sighed. “But I’d  _ like _ for you to answer it.”

“I don’t make exceptions to the one question rule,” Donghyuck said. “If I did, then everyone would come up here to ask me dumb questions. Some kid came up last month to ask if a girl had a crush on him. Unbelievable.”

“So you won't tell me?”

“Is  _ that  _ your question?”

Yeah, you definitely didn’t like him.

“Where is Jisung?” You asked.

“In the forest.,” Donghyuck answered. “Past the peonies, you’ll find a tree. He’s underneath it. To get there, you need to sink through the ground.”

“I know where a pit of quicksand is,” you said. “That must be the entrance.”

Donghyuck nodded.

“Right, that’s sorted then,” you turned to Renjun. “We go back and find him tomorrow.”

“Ask me another question,” Donghyuck said. “The one I know you want to.”

“I thought there were no exceptions to your rule,” Renjun said.

“This is a question  _ I _ want answered,” Donghyuck said. “But I can only answer other peoples questions. So, Y/n, ask me the question you want to.”

“Only if you answer my questions,” you countered.

“Ooh, you’re not as dumb as I thought,” Donghyuck smiled. “Very well, ask away.”

You glanced at Renjun then back at Haechan. “Where is Chenle?”

“Hiding,” Donghyuck answered. “And when I say hiding, I mean hidden from everything and one. Including me. He’s crafty…”

“Even you can’t find him?” Renjun asked.

“He’s safe, I know that much,” Donghyuck said. “Finding him would be near impossible though.”

“How could we go about finding him then?”

“In the city, find someone called Mark, he’s a… werewolf or something,” Donghyuck responded. “Apparently he can help.”

“That’s a lead,” you turned to Renjun. “We’ll be able to find him.”

He smiled softly at you. “Thanks, Y/n.”

“Next question,” Donghyuck said.

“Uh… what did you mean by I’m not meant to exist?” You asked.

“You’re an artificial human,” Donghyuck explained. “You were never meant to be born, your very existence changes the flow of the world. The Moonie’s seek to correct that.”

“Moonies?” Renjun asked.

“The assassins,” you said. “Order of the Moon. Moonies is a nickname.”

“I’m curious how you’ve managed to last so long,” Donghyuck leant closer to you. “You have defenses set up, but they’ve never been activated.”

“... What does that mean?”

“What you did earlier to Kay,” Donghyuck said. “That’s one of your defensive weapons. You’ve never used it before, but Kay activated it for you.”

“That… was me?” You asked.

“You’re more special than you know,” his hand touched your neck and you felt the skin burn. “There’s another one there.”

His hand touched your forehead. “Another.” Your knee. “Another.” Your eye. “Another.”

Renjun pushed Donghyuck’s hand away and glared at him, but he only laughed.

“No need to worry, I won’t hurt either of you,” Donghyuck said. “It would be stupid to try with all these runes you have. You could kill me in seconds.”

“What do they do?” You asked.

“No idea, you’ll have to activate them to find out,” Donghyuck answered. “There are marks burned into your skin, but they’ve been hidden. A phoenix made them.”

“Taeyong…” You glanced at the fire next to you.

“Care to ask my question now?” Donghyuck was growing more impatient it seemed.

“I don't know what your question is,” you said.

“What was so important…” he started.

“... That Taeyong lied to me.” You finished.

Donghyuck thought for a moment then clicked his tongue in annoyance. “No idea.”

“What do you mean ‘no idea?’”

“It’s a truth hidden from me,” Donghyuck sighed. “And it’s incredibly irritating.”

“Then I have a different question,” you said. “Who can tell me the answer?”

“Taeyong,” Donghyuck answered immediately. “Is that the phoenix who marked you?”

“Yeah, he’s my… brother. Kind of,” you answered.

“Well, your brother has left burn marks over almost every inch of your skin,” Donghyuck said. “How do you not remember that? It would have been an incredibly painful process.”

“I’m… not sure,” you admitted.

Suddenly, a smile covered Donghyuk’s face and he leant towards you. Renjun moved closer to you as well, wanting to make sure Donghyuck didn’t do anything weird again.

“Do you want to try something?” He asked.

“Depends what it is,” you answered.

“Your memories of the experience must have been erased,” Donghyuck said. “I could bring them back.”

“What?” Renjun stared at him, incredulous. “The memories of them being burnt alive?”

“It could answer the question,” Donghyuck said. “Of course it will be painful, but we’ll be one step closer to uncovering the mystery.”

When you looked at Renjun, he shook his head, but you had to do it. Taeyong refused to tell you what was going on, so you needed to find other ways to figure it out.

“Let’s do it.”

“Y/n…” Renjun took your hand. “We can’t trust him.”

“You should listen to your friend,” Donghyuck said. “Though I’d prefer you take my offer. It could be your only chance…”

It was too tempting not to take it.

“It’ll be okay, Renjun,” you offered him a smile. “It’s just a memory.”

He still didn’t approve but he didn’t say anything. Renjun moved away to give you space and you faced Donghyuck again when he took both of your hands.

“Close your eyes,” he said. “Then follow me.”

You did as he asked, but after closing your eyes, you were greeted with the site of your parents. Back at your old house.

“Mum?” She turned to you, smiling.

“Try not to get caught up in the memories,” Donghyuck shocked you out of the dazed state you were in. “You don’t want to be trapped in your own mind.”

“What would happen if I was?” You couldn’t help but reach a hand out to the woman who raised you, even if you couldn’t touch her…

“Well, you’d be stuck here forever,” Donghyuck answered. “Come on, we need to find the right memory.”

Time moved impossibly fast in reverse. You saw your family alive. Yourself and Taeyong as children. And you felt everything that came with it.

You felt your arm break when your past self fell from a tree. You felt a sharp pain in your side from when a ball hit you. You swore like a sailor when you stubbed your toe.

None of it compared to when you felt a burning pain on your throat.

“There!” Time stopped and you found yourself lying on a couch with Taeyong beside you.

You parents were behind him, stone faced as he sobbed into his hands.

“Remember,” Donghyuck told you. “The pain isn’t real. You’re safe.”

“It fucking feels real,” you touched your throat, and felt your raw skin. You couldn’t tell how many burn marks there were, they all blended together into unimaginable pain.

“You’re handling it well,” Donghyuck said. “Just… try not to freak out.”

“Why? What’s going to happen?”

“You have a lot more than six marks,” Donghyuck answered. “There’s going to be more.”

A second later, you felt the your arm burn as a finger traced a pattern into the skin. You were able to handle it for a moment before it became too much to bare and you couldn’t help but scream. It felt like someone was dragging a knife across your skin. And essentially, they were… except that knife was on fire.

“It’s hurting them!” The pain subsided a little when Taeyong stopped. “I can’t do it!”

“The sooner you get this done, the sooner we can cover it up,” your mother said. “We’ll heal the marks, take the memories. You’re only making them suffer longer.”

“No…” Taeyong shook his head. “I can’t do it… I can’t do it…”

“If you don’t do it, then the demons will come,” your mother’s voice was harsher than you’d ever heard it. “And they’ll kill all of us for what we’ve done. The pain they experience now is nothing compared to what the demons would do.”

You felt a wet cloth being placed on your forehead. It did little to help, but the cool sensation was able to distract you for a moment.

“Y/n…” Taeyong whispered. “I’m so sorry…”

The pain returned tenfold as he continued to draw patterns into your skin. You only felt it for a few moments before you were brought back into the real world. Renjun was right beside you with his arm wrapped around you.

“Y/n,” he pressed a hand to your forehead, the coldness felt nice against all of the heat. “Y/n, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you couldn’t feel the pain anymore, but the effects were still there. “Fuck, that sucked…”

“It’s okay,” Renjun pulled you into a hug. “I’ve got you.”

“As much as this is kinda cute,” Donghyuck interrupted. “You didn’t let me finish the memory.”

“I think they saw enough,” Renjun glared at him.

“All we saw was that those marks were meant to hide and protect you from supernaturals,” Donghyuck argued. “They talked about a demon, we need to know more.”

“Stop hurting them just because you’re curious,” Renjun growled. “We know enough.”

“It’s okay,” you muttered. “I can handle it.”

“No,” Renjun’s voice was firm. “We can find out another way.”

Donghyuck sighed. “Very well. You guys can rest here and head back in the morning if you’d like. I need to go talk to Kay about her hospitality skills.”

“Thanks, Donghyuck,” you said as he stood up to leave.

“You’re very welcome,” he responded. “But Renjun is right, I only helped you for the sake of my own curiosity.”

Even after Donghyuck had left, Renjun still didn’t let go of you.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked.

“Damn, you’re starting to sound like Taeyong,” you muttered. “I’m fine, it was just a memory.”

“Alright…”

“Hey,” you cupped his cheeks to make sure he faced you. “It’s okay. It hurt like a  _ bitch _ , but it was in the past. I’m fine now.”

Renjun nodded. “Yeah, alright. We should just go to sleep, we’ve been adventuring all day…”

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind,” you gave him a smile as you went through your bag to find some blankets. “Tomorrow, we have to go find Jisung, and battle some old child stealing forest weirdo.”

“Sounds like it’ll be fun,” Renjun helped you set up the makeshift bed. “Maybe your new hand cannon will be of some help.”

“If I can figure out how to use it,” you agreed. “We’ll probably be fine.”

“‘Probably,’” Renjun scoffed. “It really isn’t in your nature to plan ahead, is it?”

“Things have worked out for me so far,” you shrugged. “Why would I need a plan when I’m so good at winging it?”

“You’re only alive because you’re lucky,” he laughed.

“And because I have you,” you finally settled into the bed and Renjun followed soon after. “My hero.”

“I’ve literally done nothing to protect you so far,” Renjun said. “But I don’t mind being called your hero.”

“Good, because I’m not going to stop doing it.”

-

After a good night’s rest, you set off down the mountain again. Kay didn’t bother you this time, apparently Donghyuck had told her that if she misbehaved, you’d blast her into oblivion with your weird, magical hand cannon. You didn’t know how he was able to communicate with the yeti, but you didn’t care so long as she didn’t come charging at you with murderous intent again.

It was easier going down the mountain than it was going up. It got a bit steep at some points, but you made it through with a little caution.

Well… you had no caution, so Renjun had to stop you from going tumbling down a mountain a few times, but you lived. So all was fine.

You made it back to the shapeshifters just past midday, and were immediately bombarded with questions about Jisung. After some food and a small rest, you were back into the forest to find him.

You’d told the shapeshifters to stay behind to look after all of the kids. You didn’t want them being hurt by anything in the forest… including the forest itself. Plus, it would be harder to find Jaemin if the shapeshifters were with you, the forest would hide him again.

Alone, it only took about ten minutes for you to find the forest weirdo again.

“You’re back, did you ask the seer where to go?” Jaemin asked.

“Yep, we’re looking for a pit of quicksand,” you answered.

“Oh, I can take you to one,” Jaemin offered. “Just follow me-”

Jaemin turned around but a branch moved to block his way. Apparently, the forest didn’t approve.

“You need to let me pass,” Jaemin whispered. “That boy could die.”

“Hey, forest dad, we won't let your kid get hurt,” you said. “We just need to know where to go.”

The branch didn’t move.

“Fine, I’ll just climb over you,” Jaemin pulled himself over the branch and kept going.

You and Renjun quickly followed after him but the forest put more defenses in place. Jaemin moved past each of them with limited difficulty until it was frustrated enough to latch onto his leg with some twigs and stop him from moving further.

“Let me go,” Jaemin tugged his leg but the wood only tightened. “You’re hurting me!”

It backed off.

“I fucking hate this forest,” you shook your head. “Fucking creepy.”

“Agreed,” Renjun muttered.

“I’m practically an adult now!” Jaemin shouted. “I can make my own decisions!”

“Jaemin, they won’t listen to you,” you said. “They think they’re protecting you by omitting the truth from you. Parents are like that.”

“I can handle it,” Jaemin crouched down and dug his hands into the soil as he had the day before. “Tell me what’s so bad about Yaga.”

You felt the wind start to pick up as the trees began to sway. This was definitely the worst forest you’d ever been in…

“No, no…” Jaemin muttered. “You let her take so many…”

“Jaemin?” You approached cautiously, not wanting to freak out the forest. “You alright?”

“Why would you let her do that?” You could hear tears in his voice as he stood up from the ground.

He turned around to face you and Renjun, and you could see the tears running down his face. “What did they say?”

“Yaga feasts on the young,” Jaemin answered. “It’s why they hid me from her… but not the others. So many kids came into this forest. There was a four year old girl…”

“She’s going to  _ eat _ Jisung?” Renjun asked.

“She’s preparing him now,” Jaemin nodded. “I need to help, let me help.”

Jaemin looked towards the tops of the trees, but nothing came. No wind whipping at your face, the branches stayed completely still.

“Follow me,” Jaemin turned back to you. “Before they change their mind.”

Jaemin knew his way around the forest. He easily found the quicksand pit near the large tree and jumped in without hesitation.

“I guess we’re… jumping in the quicksand,” Renjun muttered. “Because that’s always a good idea.”

“Don’t be a bitch,” you leapt in and immediately grew to hate the suffocating feeling you felt as you were pulled deeper and deeper.

“Alright…” Renjun waded into the sand and began to sink along with you and Jaemin.

Once you were completely submerged, you fell right through the ground and into a cluttered room. Looking around, you saw all sorts of trinkets and books littering the floor. It looked like someone’s home.

The child eating witch’s home.

“So what’s the plan?” Jaemin asked.

“Look around until we find Jisung and then get the fuck outta here,” you answered. “I don’t fancy being eaten by an old witch.”

“Then we probably should have made a proper plan,” Renjun muttered. “But it’s too late now. Let’s just get this over with.”

The ‘house’ was pretty small, so it didn’t take much exploring to find Jisung. Or Yaga.

She was in what you assumed was the kitchen, cutting up some vegetables to boil up. And just past that room, you found Jisung huddled in the corner.

“Y/n!” His eyes lit up when he saw you and he immediately ran to you and hugged you. “I just wanted to get flowers for mum...”

“It’s okay, we’re getting you out of here,” Renjun said. “We just need to find out… how.”

“I know where the exit is,” Jisung said. “I’ve seen her use it. Just follow me.”

You couldn’t even leave the room before Yaga entered thought. “I thought I smelt newcomers. It’s a whole feast now, isn’t it?”

Renjun quickly pulled out his gun, but she just laughed.

“Got anything stronger than that?”

You held up your hand, really hoping it would do it’s cannon thing… but nothing happened.

“Oh, this is adorable,” Yaga began approaching the group.

Jaemin and Jisung hid behind you and Renjun as she got closer, but your stupid mark wouldn’t do it’s stupid thing.

“Come on, come on…” You muttered.

Renjun fired his gun and even thought the bullet went right through Yaga’s forehead, she brushed it off like nothing happened.

“Listen, darling, you can’t kill a witch with mortal weapons,” she said. “Those marking you got might do the trick, but I see you’re having… performance issues.”

“Bitch,” you snarled.

“Well, that’s just rude,” she took another step and you backed up until you were caged between her and the wall. “Unfortunately, I can’t having you figuring out how to use those so I’ll have to have you as an entr é .”

“Don’t touch them.” Renjun stepped in front of you and held his gun out but it went flying out of his hand when Yaga snapped her fingers.

“I’m starting to think that you were right about making a plan,” you muttered.

“No plan in the world would have prevented this,” Yaga said. “Oh, I’m so excited! I finally get to taste the boy the forest hid from me… you smelt so good, but I could never find you. You’ll go  _ perfectly _ with the little shapeshifter.”

You felt Jisung’s hand grip your wrist tightly. You couldn’t let anything happen to any of the people with you. If only your stupid hand cannon would work…

_ “This doesn’t work if you’re not scared.” _

Donghyuck’s words rang through your head. You just needed to trigger the defensive weaponry, right? That should be easy enough…

“Let her come,” you told Renjun. “It’s how we got Kay.”

Renjun stepped aside but kept a watchful eye as Yaga placed a hand on your neck. You gasped when her nails dug into the skin, but the pain only lasted a second. Soon enough, you were struggling not to collapse. It was like everything melted away. You had no energy to feel any emotion, let alone fear.

“It’s not working,” Renjun forced himself between you and Yaga before she could take more of your life force. “Just run!”

Renjun pushed Yaga with enough force to make her stumble back before the four of you ran as fast as you could. Jisung led you back to the room you came from but it wasn’t long before you felt a grip on your throat.

You were thrown against the wall and you’re already blurry vision became even worse. Then the witch loomed over you with her nails reaching out to take more from you…

Before she could even try though, Jaemin jumped onto her back and she stumbled backwards. Renjun kicked her leg out from under her and she collapsed, giving you all the chance to escape. Jisung pulled a scenic painting of a waterfall off the wall and started climbing up the stairs behind it. Jaemin followed him immediately.

Renjun helped you up and pulled out after him, but you could hear Yaga shouting behind you. She was following you outside.

Thankfully, you had the protection of the forest once you made it out.

The trees quickly reacted and began pulling you all away. Jaemin, and then Jisung, and then you. But before they could grab Renjun, Yaga caught him.

“Renjun!” When you tried to help him, a vine wrapped around your arms and held you back. “What are you doing? Jaemin, tell it to stop!”

“They say this makes the least amount of casualties,” Jaemin said. “Let us help him!”

“No, no, no,” you watched her nails dig into Renjun’s neck and his head lolled to the side. “Renjun!”

You felt a burning sensation on your throat. The feeling grew until it felt as if the burn marks were being made all again. The searing pain almost made you cry, but you knew it meant something was happening. The runes were working.

“Let him go!”

Yaga immediately dropped Renjun and he collapsed to the ground. The pain didn’t stop, only grew, but you tried to ignore it. To save Renjun.

“Let  _ me  _ go.”

The vines retreated instantly and you ran to Renjun. He was unconscious… but alive.

“Go-” It was hard to speak with the mark burning into your throat. “Go back in- inside... don't- dont come out again.”

Yaga followed your orders without question. It was only once she had sunken into the quicksand that the mark ceased to burn. You took in greatful gasps of air as the pain retreated and you pulled Renjun up.

“Come on, wake up,” you whispered. “That hurt like a bitch, so if you die now, I’ll be really fucking angry.”

“I’m fine…” Renjun didn’t open his eyes but he leant into you as you held him. “I’m fine, I’m fine…”

You sighed in relief as you pulled him closer. “I thought yeti’s were the worst thing I’ve ever seen… then I meet a child eating witch.”

Renjun laughed, but it sounded weak. “As long as we’re okay…”

“They say you need to go,” Jaemin said. “Go back to the shapeshifters, I’ll be safe here.”

“Thank you, Jaemin,” you said. “Make sure the forest doesn’t let her take any more kids.”

“I won't,” he glared at the ground. “Never again.”

It almost seemed like the forest shrivelled away at his words.

“Renjun, can you walk?” He nodded but when you helped him up, he nearly fell right back down. Jisung helped you keep him upright as you walked back through the forest.

The forest seemed to create a path for you to follow to get back. You assumed it was because Jaemin told it to. The walk was still quite long and Renjun was pretty much passing out in your arms, but you made it back eventually.

The whole colony swarmed you when you arrived. Jisung’s mother immediately picked him up and spun him around like they were in an old movie and one of the healers came up to you and Renjun.

“What happened to him?” They asked.

“Just ran into an evil witch who tried to drain his life force,” you explained. “We’ll be fine with some rest.”

Renjun didn’t speak but nodded in approval at the idea. The healer helped the two of you back to the tent and you immediately collapsed into one of the blankets on the ground.

“Let’s not do that again,” Renjun muttered.

“I’m certainly not planning on it,” you agreed. “These runes are useful but they fucking hurt.”

You felt Renjun’s hand brush against your neck. “I saw the rune. It was glowing bright red.”

“It let me tell people what to do,” you said. “It let me tell a  _ forest _ what to do.”

“And that’s only one of them…” Renjun’s hand moved to your cheek. “There’s so many…”

His thumb stroked your cheek gently, and you saw his eyes start to close. “I'm so tired… good night, Y/n.”

“It’s four in the afternoon.”

“Irrelevant.”

You laughed and moved closer to him. “Good night, Renjun.”


End file.
